I keep running into girly-men who whine about the Benelli M1S90's recoil. Maybe my Mauser has just toughened up my sholder but I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that a lot of guys are just sissys. My God men, don't you know that recoil is in mostly in your head! (oh yeah, then just fire that baby off of your crotch Jeff Cooper!). Jokes aside, the recoil isn't bad at all--man up!!

Greg, I don't get called Wimpy much. Here's a couple of guns from my past that kicked too much for me, at the time at least.

A replica of a Civil War era Enfield musketoon, a carbine length, 58 caliber light howitzer. If memory serves, load was a 500 gr Minie in front of 80 grains of FFF.

Bought when I was just a lad,a Remington Rolling Block carbine in 45-70. The 405 grain Govt load was a nosebleed inducer in this light, fast handling little cannon.

And my first shotgun, a 1920's era H&R single shot in 16 gauge. It weighed less than 6 lbs, and a lot of my first shells were the old Peters "Long Range" goose loads, IIRC 1 1/8 oz of 3s.

What these all had in common was light weight for the load,stocks crooked as a Clintonista, and butt plates.

And I greatly respect the Colonel, but in this case he's mistaken. Ft-lbs do not go away when ignored. Those that try oft end up with massive flinches.

Join a league for the clay sport you prefer, or a "Practical" one.Run 5K rounds through that Benelli before Halloween. Then, let us know if you still feel the same.

Dr. Charles Lee Ray

August 4, 2002, 08:53 AM

Interestingly, I ran 475 rounds through my Benelli Legacy on Fourth_of_July weekend. Yes, I was hurting in the end, but no worse than I did in the past using my 1100 Rem(now my wife's). This was for a 400rd Sporting Clays event. I fired 3 boxes(75rds) the day before for practice. These were Winchester's AA 1 1/8oz Sporting Clays load.

FWIW-I easily fire over 200 rounds of 1oz Trap every weekend, and an additional 100 every Wednesday evening(Trap night), it just doesn't sound as dramatic as my 400rd weekend.:) My Benelli recoils no more than the Rem it replaced. I hadn't even heard about this recoil issue until I came across it here a few months ago. Benelli's are highly regarded as 'top autos' in my area, which led me to my purchase, and I'd never heard anyone mention additional recoil before TFL.

I don't think most have ever tested them(gas vs. recoil) side by side. When target loads are used, damned if I can feel a difference between the 2. But I havn't fired a 'magnum' load through a shotgun for about 15 years, so perhaps these are what everyone's comparing.

When you think about, both system's bolts are stationary during that initial 'push' during detination. The bolt of the gas system is forced rearward after the load passes the gas taps, roughly half way down the barrel. I can't tell when the benelli system releases the bolt, but since it's noticably faster during my rapid fire testing, it must also be occuring during bore travel. If it was occuring after muzzle exit, I'd think it would cycle slower than the 1100.

Anyways...I can guarantee my next purchase will be a Benelli also, probably one of the Presenation models, since this Legacy has proved to by 100% reliable with ZERO malfuntions. And the engraving & nickle look great!

Take care!

As a side note-There was a young fellow that shot a couple rounds of Trap here two weeks ago. He was using a synthetic stocked Browning BPS(pump) in 10ga. I don't know what the loads were, but they were some long, brown suckers.

BlkHawk73

August 4, 2002, 10:05 AM

Here, here! I toomget a kick out of these people. (I wonder how many are also those that have to have that 300 Magnum to down a whitetail). I've had my Benelli for about 5 yrs now and although the recoil is noticable, it's not so much that I can't enjoy shooting it. So...if this 130 pounder can handle it...

BPNovum

August 4, 2002, 10:39 AM

Sounds like you guys need something to help get rid of the pain after a good day on the range! I will be glad to offer 10 samples of our Muscle Wonder Spray to the first ten people to e-mail me with their mailing addresses.

With the spray application, you can carry it with you and not worry about using it while out shooting. No meesy creams!

I hope this helps the sore muscles and joints you may get from your love of shotgun shooting!

K80Geoff

August 4, 2002, 10:45 AM

Recoil is a funny thing. You think it isn't a problem, but it will catch up to you eventually.

There is a good reason the Beretta 390/391 series shotgun is the one most often seen on the winners stand. Pros know that pounding will catch up to you and hurt your scores sooner or later.

Most of the jokers I started shooting Sporting Clays with are now shooting a Beretta. Had one shooter tell me he misses his O/U but can't win without the Beretta.

The Benelli is a superb gun for the occasional shooter, Duck Hunter, 3 gun shooter and young guys with lots of Testosterone.

When you get on in years you will be looking for a Beretta 391 too. :D

Enjoy your Benelli while you still can:D

DARTH 44

August 4, 2002, 11:15 AM

It`s a MAN`s life to shoot guns that recoil !:D

Seriously,recoil is a very subjective thing and everyne has his/her own threshold of it.
I remember,when I was in military,it was December and we were to waste some surplus ammo to be square in books(bureaucracy,you know) I fired about two dozens shots from a 26mm flare pistol.It`s a very lightweight gun,so it kicked significantly enough to make my wrist sting for a couple of hours.
Call me freak,but...I liked it!
Good shooting

Greg Bell

August 4, 2002, 01:05 PM

Gents,

I was kidding about "recoil being in the mind", as my "shooting from the crotch" comment should have made clear. However, I still don't think the Benneli's recoil is anything to write home about. I have shot some rifles that made it seriously clear that recoil is not only in the mind.

I'm begining to wonder if this "Benneli kicks too hard" nonsense is like the "you should never have any other gun if you have a P7 because the manual of arms is too unique" nonsense.

the apparantly too manly,

GHB:p

stinger

August 4, 2002, 02:02 PM

Recoil is different from person to person. Some can handle it, some can't. I don't know that it is appropriate to call a person weak for not being able to handle a particular load or gun.

Sure, many rifles kick much more than many shotguns, and vice versa. Why is it that? Well, for one, you are talking about a much more powerful and higher pressure round. Also, you don't usually fire your rifle (in the field) as much as a shotgun. Think about it this way. When you go dove or even pheasant hunting, you are going to be taking MANY more shots than you would hunting deer/elk/moose/etc.

You need be able to take this bigger game with one, maybe two, possibly three shots. If you are taking more than these few with a rifle, you need to reevaluate your technique/abilities/range.

However, I can take MANY more shots (at the range) with 8mm/30'06/308/whatever than I can with full power 12 ga slugs.

Stinger

edited to add: no I still will not bow down to your Benelli

Dave McC

August 4, 2002, 07:11 PM

I'm not slamming Benellis, nor their owners. If anyone out there would like to lend me one for testing, I'd be glad to shoot a round or ten with it and give a T&E rat cheer(G).

Seriously, people very incredibly in their ability to soak up recoil, and while big shooters may seem to be able to handle more ft-lbs and more repetitions of same, it's not just mass and muscle.

I'll admit shooting a LE styled COF with an issue, 7 lb 870 that ran 50 rounds of issue 00 and a followup 12 round slug stage would leave me a trifle sore the next morning.

I can shoot my TB through 150 rounds a day for a weekend w/o a twinge. Good fit, fair form, and lots of weight (9 1/2 lbs) make it painless. Holding it up gets old sometimes....

Shoot a shotgun that doesn't hurt you with ammo appropriate to the game. If that's a fast firing Benelli,and you LIKE Benelllis,count your blessings...

Greg Bell

August 4, 2002, 08:59 PM

Alright now,

Since I'm getting notes from the moderator to chill out let me just say I'm kidding with the "girly men" and "bow down before the Benelli" nonsense. I'm proud of my nifty new toy that's all. I've been on this bulletin board since 99' and I've never had any problems before--I hope nobody took this silliness personally.

GHB

.....:mad: ....:eek: .....:barf: ....must resist urge.......

Brian Newbill

August 5, 2002, 11:32 AM

My Benelli's 12 and 20 ga do recoil more than my old Browning Gold 3.5. But they also are almost 1 lb lighter.

I really don't notice the recoil difference in actions as much as I notice it in weight. I have a 12 ga barrel for my NEF action that will stomp the crap out of me. I can't stand to shoot it with 12ga barrel but with the 20 ga barrel it is a pussycat.

The 20 ga Benelli actually recoils more than the 12 ga but it doesn't even weigh 6 lbs while the 12 ga is closer to 7 lbs. But man does it swing sweet.

The old Browning was closer to 8.5 lbs.

But I prefer lightweight guns, I usually have to do more walking than shooting.

Andrew Wyatt

August 5, 2002, 05:46 PM

I'm not really a benelli hater or anything, but I don't really see much of a need for a semi- auto shotgun in my present battery.

as for recoil and whatnot, cooper is correct that recoil is a non sequitor when a weapon is used in anger.

training is a different deal, however, as the adrenaline rush present when using the gun in anger (which greatly decreases the perception of recoil) is not present.